Lots of Surprises After First Pick

By THOMAS GEORGE

Published: April 25, 1988

He clutched the red and white Atlanta Falcons jersey that had a huge No. 93 on it and grinned as cameras clicked and onlookers gushed. For Aundray Bruce, the first college player selected in the National Football League draft yesterday, no surprise meant the best gift of all.

''Since I signed on April 6, I've been waiting for this,'' said a beaming Bruce. ''I would hate to be at home right now waiting for that phone call.''

Had Bruce, an Auburn linebacker, been at home in Montgomery, Ala., instead of at the Marriott Marquis hotel in Times Square, he would have probably been there alone.

''I've got seven sisters and six brothers,'' said Bruce, ''and they're probably all at church praying for me instead of watching this on TV. I'm the 13th kid; 13 was a lucky number for me after all.''

Bruce was the first of three defensive players selected as the draft unfolded, and then offense ruled. Sixteen of the first round's 27 selections were offensive players, and a first-round-record six were wide receivers. Slow Day for Quarterbacks

Conspicuously missing were quarterbacks. Tom Tupa of Ohio State was the first one taken when the Phoenix Cardinals made him the 13th pick of the third round, the 68th pick over all. It was the longest quarterback drought since 1974, when Danny White of the Dallas Cowboys was the draft's 53d selection. Also absent was the trade mayhem expected to accompany the early rounds. Only two first-round trades were made, both involving the Los Angeles Raiders.

''There was some talking,'' said Don Shula, the Miami Dolphins' coach. ''But there just wasn't the will to make the trades as in previous years. Everybody seemed to clearly know what they wanted and liked their chances to get it from where they were.''

The draft's first startling turn was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' selection of Paul Gruber, an offensive tackle from Wisconsin, with the fourth pick of the first round. The Bucs were believed to be interested in either Tim Brown, the Heisman Trophy-winning wide receiver from Notre Dame, or Sterling Sharpe, a South Carolina wide receiver.

''We had Gruber rated the highest player on the board,'' Ray Perkins, the Tampa Bay coach, said. ''We would have taken him if we had the first pick of the draft. I've changed my mind about the left-tackle position. It's now a skill position because he lines up against more and more teams' best athlete, their right defensive end or linebacker, the Lawrence Taylor types. That's why I feel good about Gruber. He is one of the best athletes I've ever seen.''

When Tampa Bay passed up Brown, the Raiders were drooling. And two picks later, the sixth of the first round, the Raiders swiped Brown and paved the way for their trade of Dokie Williams, a wide receiver, and their second- and fourth-round picks for the San Francisco 49ers' first-round pick, the 26th over all. The Raiders had already sealed a pre-draft deal with Houston for the Oilers' first-round pick, the ninth. Three First-Round Picks

Thus, the Raiders enjoyed three first-round selections, the most of any team, and besides Brown they chose Terry McDaniel, a Tennessee cornerback, and Scott Davis, a defensive end from Illinois. Even with that luxury of three early choices, the Raiders opted against drafting a quarterback to solve their longstanding problem.

Eric Kumerow, an Ohio State linebacker, and Aaron Jones, an defensive end from Eastern Kentucky, were drafted much higher than expected. Kumerow was the Miami Dolphins' selection in the first round (No. 16 over all). Jones was the Pittsburgh Steelers' first-round pick (18th over all).

''Kumerow is 6-7, 260 pounds,'' said Shula, ''and we had him rated second at defensive end behind Neil Smith.'' Smith was the Kansas City Chiefs' pick and the draft's second choice behind Bruce. ''He was just more consistent than all the guys rated above him,'' Shula said of Kumerow.

Chuck Noll of the Pittsburgh Steelers said Jones has ''been good for a long time and he's faster and a better athlete than those guys rated ahead of him.''

The Jets and the Giants strove for protection up front, drafting robust offensive tackles in the first round. The Jets nabbed Dave Cadigan of Southern California and the Giants took Eric Moore of Indiana. The Giants went a step farther in that direction by using their second-round pick for John Elliott, an offensive tackle from Michigan.

Everyone wondered how the Los Angeles Rams would benefit from their blockbuster trade that sent Eric Dickerson to the Indianapolis Colts. The Rams are happy with the results, gaining Gaston Green, a U.C.L.A. running back, and Aaron Cox, an Arizona State receiver, with the first-round picks they received in exchange for Dickerson.

''We felt all along that Green was the best breakaway runner in the draft by far,'' the Rams' coach, John Robinson, said. ''Cox is that kind of receiver, too. We realized the concern about Green's durability, but he comes to us with no nicks at all.''

Though the draft was considered thin, each team, especially in the first two rounds, appeared to gain a dose of what it needed.

''But my feeling is,'' said Jim Finks, the New Orleans Saints' president, ''that this league this year may be the toughest ever for rookies to make. Now there is no competing league, and with the U.S.F.L. folding, there has been an influx of more players. And the strike last year gave teams some holdover players they will look at even closer this year. There is, though, always room for a few surprises.''